Kentucky’s defense continues to be a serious problem.
The Kentucky Wildcats came into Oxford, Mississippi, looking to bounce back after losing a very emotional game Saturday.
That is not the result they got, as the Cats lost 98-84 to Ole Miss, marking their fourth loss in five games.
The Cats came out flat and fell behind by 23 points at the half and even 29 at one point in the game. They then went on a big run, but the lowest the Cats got the deficit to was 11.
Despite Amari Williams getting a triple-double, Otega Oweh scoring 24 points, and the Cats scoring 84 points, the defense continues to be a crippling problem for the Cats.
Now, Kentucky will look to bounce back against South Carolina, who is winless in the conference.
After the game, head coach Mark Pope, along with Williams and Oweh, discussed the game. Here is a recap of what they said via UK Athletics.
And here are the postgame notes via UK Athletics.
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is now 15-7 overall, 4-5 in the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss is 17-6, 6-4 in the league
- Kentucky leads the series 111-15, 30-12 in Oxford, Mississippi
- Mark Pope is 202-115 as head coach, including 15-7 at Kentucky.
- Next for Kentucky: Kentucky returns home to take on South Carolina Saturday, February 8 at Rupp Arena. Game time is set for noon E.T.
Team Notes
- Kentucky made 10 of 21 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats are 11-3 this season when making at least 10 long balls in a game.
- Kentucky won the rebounding 37-29. UK is 11-3 this season when winning the rebounding.
- Cats had 21 assists on 29 field goals, a 72.4 percent assist rate. It was the ninth game this season for Kentucky with at least 20 total assists
- Wildcats shot 29-58 (.500) from the field overall. UK is 10-1 when shooting 50 percent or better this season
- Ole Miss finished with 24 assists and just one turnover. The 24 assists tied for the most ever by the Rebels against Kentucky
- Ole Miss’s 98 points were the Rebels most ever against Kentucky
- This was Kentucky’s first game this season to feature no ties and no lead changes
- UK lost despite leading Ole Miss in second chance points (6-2), bench points (20-18), points in the paint (38-30) and fastbreak points (13-8)
- Kentucky played without starting point guard Lamont Butler for the third consecutive game.
Player Notes
- Amari Williams posted a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists
- He becomes the fourth Kentucky player all-time to record a triple-double joining Isaiah Briscoe (12/29/16), De’Aaron Fox (11/28/16) and Chris Mills (12/27/98)
- Coincidently, the most recent UK triple-double prior to Williams (by Briscoe) also came in Oxford against Ole Miss
- Williams’ 10 assists were a career high
- It is the seventh game this season for Williams with at least a double-double, third-consecutive game and fifth in the last seven.
- It is his 13th double-figure scoring game of the season and his 11th game rebounding double digits
- Otega Oweh scored a career-high 24 points and added six rebounds
- He has scored in double figures in every game this season, the only SEC player to do so and one of 13 (entering tonight) in Division I
- It marks his sixth game with at least 20 points this season, the most on the team
- Jaxson Robinson had 18 points, his seventh-straight double-figure game
- He was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc and now has made at least three triples in seven-straight games and at least four 3s in three-straight
- He is 34-61(.557) from deep in SEC play and is averaging 16.1 points per game in league games
- Koby Brea scored 10 points and made two triples. He has16 games with multiple 3s this season and 37-straight contests overall with at least one made 3
- Andrew Carr contributed 10 points and was a team-best +7 on the night
- Carr also added four rebounds and three assists
- He was a perfect 3 of 3 from the floor
In the First Half
- Kentucky’s starters were Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea, Otega Oweh, Ansley Almonor and Amari Williams for the third game in a row.
- UK is 1-2 with this starting lineup
- Travis Perry and Trent Noah were the first substitutions at 16:22
- Ole Miss connected on three early triples to lead 15-7 at the first media timeout
- Ole Miss ended the half on a 15-3 run to lead 54-31. The 23-point deficit was the largest for Kentucky this season and UK’s third-largest halftime deficit ever in an SEC game
- Ole Miss had zero turnovers in the first half
- Matthew Murrell led the Rebels with 14 points
- Jaxson Robinson paced Kentucky with 8 points in the opening 20 minutes
- UK is now 3-7 this season when trailing at halftime
In the Second Half
- Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
- Ole Miss built the lead to 27 points at 64-37 with 17:42 to go
- Wildcats chipped away and cut the deficit to 18 at the under 12 media timeout
- A 8-0 spurt brought UK within 11, 78-67, with 7:43 to play
- Kentucky again brought the game within 11 with 1:20 to go at 92-81, but would get no closer